A Social Expiriment
by Cinder42
Summary: It's always been simple. Kishin eggs eat human Souls. They are evil. Miester's and Deamon weapons kill them. The end. However, when a young researcher and her little sister come visit the acadamy, things might start to seem a little more complicated than that.
1. First Impressions

"Come on Soul! Dress with some class today, I know you know how!" My scythe just rolled his eyes at me, shoving his hands into the pockets of his wrinkled old jacket. "I don't see the why I should have to change such a cool outfit just because some old scientist lady's coming to the academy." Then it was my turn to roll my eyes, tapping my foot impatiently on the living room floor. "You're almost as sloppy as Black Star sometimes..." He just gave a lazy, lopsided grin and walked towards the door, ignoring my earlier command. "We are best friends after all." I'd like to push further, but the negative first impression of being late seems like it would be worse than that of my partner's grungy cloths so I reluctantly followed him out, ready to face the day to come.

It was announced by Lord Death at the begining of the week that DWMA would be having a guest. She was described as a ferily powerful miester and influential researcher, famous for her work with kishin eggs, and after a bit of research of my own, I found out that her name pops up in one place or another in almost all of our textbooks. Kaila Everwaking. She made ground-breaking discoveries about the fine details of a soul's transformation from human to Kishin, and now she was comming to teach a class at the acdamy for a semester. It was extremely exclusive and almost impossible to get into, not only did you have to send in an aplication and all of your information ahead of time, but today she was visiting to give a presentation and sit in on our usuol school day in order to hand pick pairs that she thought were adequate. My stomach was fluttering with butterflies the entire trip on the back of the motorcycle and by the time we arrived I was about ready to throw up. If I had to see Ox's smug, giant-glassed face as he told me he made the class and I didn't, I was going to smash it with a textbook.

The whole classroom was filled with a quiet buzz as we entered and you could see the rigid, strained expressions on many of the higher level miester's faces as they went through the same mental stress spiral I currently was. We slid down the isles into our seats and settled in, or, at least I tried. The nausea was still prevalent and sat like a slimy creature in my gut that occasionally tried to push its way towards my throat, I couldn't help but constantly figited with my cloths, trying to make sure everything was straight and perfect. 'Geez... I was as bad as Kid.' It didnt deter me though. Kaila Everwaking was rarely one to dole out her knowledge to just anyone if it wasn't in a research paper, and since she worked so independently, this may very well be a once in a lifetime opportunity. I could see Soul lounging in his seat like nothing was wrong, ever the cool guy. I couldnt tell if it calmed me down, or just worked me up more so I forced myself to look away, this was too big of a deal for me to start piling on uneccissary worrying about my partner's behavior's effect on me. Tsubaki eyed me nervously, keeping her usuol friendly greeting to herself, she probobly sensed that was on a hair trigger right now. However she did reach over and give my hand a reassuring squeeze and encouraging smile when she drummed up the courage, and though I almost leapt out of my skin, I was grateful for it.

I was about ready to burst by the time Stein walked in, a young women in a neat blouse and dress pants entering confidently just behind him, and a much shorter girl in giant untied boots and a hoodie trailing behind her. I forced myself to calm down and sat at attention, hiding my raging nerves behind a mask of determined alertness. They stood at the center of the room in front of the singular teacher's desk before the students, Stien's glass covered eyes scanning each of our faces from right to left until the entire room had fallen deadly silent. He cleared his throat and gestured to the guest with his hand. "This is Ms. Everwaking, I expect every single one of you to be as quiet as a corpse while she speaks or I'll have a special consiquence sorted out just for you." He said with a hint of a sadistic smile. A few of my classmates shuttered but I wasn't fazed. I'd gotten used to our professor's eccentricities since we first fought him for our remedial lesson and it barely even fazed me now. Not to mention I had yet to and didn't plan to feel it first hand. Stien quickly made his way back and reclaimed his perch on his desk chair and the, surprisingly young, Kaila Everwaking stepped up to speak.

I feel a bit guilty, but admittedly, I had planned on seeing an old woman here to speak to us today, and I was cought a bit off guard. She looked to be in her early to mid twenties, with dark, wavy brown hair that hung down past her shoulders. She was dressed rather officially but stood with a slightly relaxed air about her that could only be given off by a person who was still in their confident, youthful prime. 'How had she made so many brilliant discoveries at such a young age? Where did she get all the time, and more importantly, the informational resources?' It only took me one quick glance at her soul though to know without a shadow of a doubt that she was the real deal. Extreme strength and bravery, backed up with confident intelligence. The shorter one on the other hand was very different. She shifted from one foot to the other beside her counterpart, as if unsure of how to stand properly. Her dark brown eyes darted from face to face from behind her hood and the straight brown hair that stuck out of it in all directions. Our gazes locked momentarily and she gave me an unsure but friendly smile witch I returned with a quick nod of greeting. I wondered what such a shabily dressed character was doing with someone like Ms. Everwaking but her soul was what gave me real pause. At first I thought there was a kishin egg nearby, even almost instinctively bolting up from my chair to find the threat, however, apon further examination it seemed to be coming from her, and as soon as I would begin to grow suspicious of her, I would sense the soul of a normal, sensible human. It was the most bizarre thing I'd ever felt before in my life. Like two souls were twisting around in one body and fighting for a place in my soul perception. My analasis of the soul was cut short by Kaila, who's words immediately snapped me to attention.

"Good morning everyone, as Professor Stien said, I am Kaila Everwaking and this," she nodded to the girl beside her. "is my younger sister Cinder Everwaking." I instantly filed the name away in my memory. 'Cinder Everwaking. I never read anything about her having a sister in my crash coarse through her history, and what was wrong with her soul?' I left the questions in my head to the side to continue listening intently, hoping if she noticed it would earn me points in her favor. A dumb thought I know, but in a class this prestigious, I was scrounging for any possotive impression I could give. Cinder smiled shyly again, more openly this time meant to greet everyone in the room. She quickly ducked back though, allowing her sister to take back the attention. The was a moment of silence, as if Kaila wanted to say something to her, but she quickly picked back up on her presentation. "As you all probobly know, I will be teaching a class here for your next semester based around my research with Kishin eggs. It is a very special class, that will only be offered to very special students. I've received all of your applications and I've read them all thuroughly, so I have a pretty good idea of all of your skill sets and academic abilities, however, that isn't all that I need to know, and I'll be sitting in on all of your classes today in order to get the last bit. I'm looking forward to seeing all of you work, and those of you who are future students of mine, I'm looking forward to working alongside you." She gave a slight bow and turned, stepping down to allow Stien to once again take his position at the center of the class. The two sisters sat down on the edge of the room, their eyes trained on us curiously, and proved to be a nagging distraction to me the rest of the lesson. Between Cinder's crazy wavelength and Kaila's relaxed yet calculating gaze, I started to wonder if this was a test to see if we could still pay attention. By the next couple though I finally started to calm down and managed to tune out the pressure as best I could to focus on being a good student for it.

Lunch time was a relief, and I had to sigh audibly as I left the classroom, feeling like someone just lifted an anvil off my shoulders. Soul just rolled his eyes at me, grumbling something under his breath about me witch I easily inferred to be derogatory and met it with a swift and customary "Maka chop."

The cafeteria was as packed as ever, however it seemed to be a lot quieter than usuol and it only took me a few seconds of crowd scanning to figure out why. One of the tables sat empty in the far corner, aside from a measly five people. Death the Kid, Patty, Liz, and the Everwaking sisters. I couldnt help but tense a bit. Sure I was good at being presentable all the time but I'd have liked to at least be able to relax a little bit away from the judgmental eyes of my hopefully future professor. Kid seemed to be chatting rather comfortably with her witch I slightly envied. He was the son of Lord Death so not only did he have the rank to be able to speak to her freely but he got accepted into her class by default. 'Lucky bastard.' I tried to keep from staring at them as I got my food but couldnt help my curiosity, and it wasnt long after the rest of us have settled over at our usuol table that Patty's and I's eyes met. She gave a big grin and started waving at me enthusiasticly, quickly atracting the attention of the rest of our respective tablemates as well. Black Star immediately jumped to his selfish conclusion and stood up from the bench. "So Kid's trying to steal my spotlight in the eyes of the new professor when I'm not around to defend it huh!? Well skrew that!" He grabbed his tray and began to hurry over to their table, much to Tsubaki's dismay as she followed clumsily behind, trying in vein to convince him that he really shouldn't intrude. The tables and benches in our cafatiria are long, giving plenty of room for five students to sit in one side, bit that didn't stop Blackstar from giving Kid a hard shove to the side as he sat down. Now it was only Soul and I left at our normal spot and Patty continued to wave to us, gesturing extravagantly with her arms for us to come over and join them. I felt like I wanted to just disappear into a hole in the ground like Sid, hide away from this embarassment. Soul just cocked an eyebrow, shockingly similar to that of Kaila , who was now turned around looking at me as well. Cinder craned her neck to see past the edge of her dark hood and offered an encouraging smile and gestured with her own sleeve-covered hand for me to come sit. I looked down, letting my bangs fall over my eyes and slowly stood up, grabbed my lunch and made my way over, hearing Soul do the same just behind me. I managed to regain my composure as best I could by the time our death-row-feeling march ended and we took our seats at the table. I ensured that my posture was flawless, despite my intense desire to slouch and hide, and looked the esteemed researcher straight in the eyes. She smiled openly and I found myself returning it, shaking the hand she had held out to me in greeting. "And your name is?" She asked expectantly, proving to me that my inner stress monologue had made me a bit late on my response. "Maka Albern." I answered. "Ah, the scythe master, daughter of the academy's death scythe. I admit, your aplication was quite impressive." Heat rose a bit in my face at the fact she remembered me so well from just some paper but I smiled and gave a confirmatory nod. "I didn't get to see any of the aplications but hi anyway!" Cinder chimed in with a nervous chuckle. She didn't offered her hand for me to shake like her sister but instead keapt the both buried in her hoodie pocket, opting to give the table a friendly smile instead. "So how have things been here at the acadamy?" Kaila asked casuolly, and from there we went for the rest of the lunch period. My jitters went away surprisingly quickly as the conversation went on, drawn in by Kaila's outgoing, approachable domener. It was kind of weird, I hadnt expected her to be nearly so freindly and down to earth, despite her accomplishments, her age shined through very easily. She and her sister had atended normal puplic school for many years when they were younger so we had plenty of stories to swap. Soul even ended up getting dragged in, despite his feigned indifference. The only thing keeping me the slightest bit on edge was Cinder. After her inicial greeting she sort of shrank back into the background and whatched us all quietly, chiming in here and there but seeming all around awkward and skittish. It made me rather uncomfortable but I didn't really say anything, she didn't seem to be too bothered and was making an effort to join in the fun, but I could sense somewhere in her eratic little soul that she was frustrated and just about as uncomfortable as me. By the time the second lunch bell rang and we departed the cafiteria for our next class, the group of us were chatting like good friends, Cinder trotting along quitely beside us obve coarse. "And we're just sitting back whatching the whole time this is happening and just thinking like "what the heck...?"!" Kiala laphed, earning an echoed reaction from Liz, Tsubaki, Patty, and Black Star. Soul tries to hide his chuckle.

Nearing the classroom, Cinder, closest to the door, quickly ducked inside, followed by Black Star and Tsubaki, then by Kid and the Thomson sisters. Kaila, last to enter, turned to me and looked me straight in the eye with a sincere smile. "Well, it was a pleasure to meet you Maka, and I look forward to having you and your friends in my class this semester." It takes her words a few seconds to sink in, by which time she's gone, thankfully, because I just about squeal in exitement, barely managing to maintain my composure. 'I made it in! I'm not sure I should trust it completely until I check the official list tomorow morning but right now I'm almost too exited to care! At least I know I made a good impression!' The rest of the day goes by quickly, and I cant wait to get back tomorow.


	2. An Awkward Reveal

'Damn this uncool. I knew Maka wanted to get into this dumb class but I wasn't fully aware that it would be adding an extra hour onto our school day! I didn't even send in an aplication! Oh wait, that's right, miss teacher's pet sent one in for me with her's... great. Plus why did that hour have to translate into morning time!?' All these thoughts and more ran through my head as we trudged up the stairs to the acadamy a good hour ahead of scheduol. Maka had a perky spring in her step beside me that I'll admit was starting to get on my nerves. "How can you be this exited about an extra class?" I growled, my voice still a bit rough with sleep. "Its a special class Soul, one that might really be able to help us on missions." I can tell her answer is trying to pacify me. It probobly isn't a straight up lie but I know her well enough that the main reason is probobly just learning for learning's sake, she'd take the class even if it just taught you how to tie your shoes in a special way she didn't think she knew yet.

She demanded that we stop by Stien's classroom to check the class list and make sure she got in just in case and I grit my teeth and followed. When it comes to school with her, that's often the only thing you can do. I admit it's not a total loss though as I'm surprised to see Black Star's name on the list, seeing as how he had been in the conversation with us and Kaila yesterday at lunch and she should know what he's like, but I shrugged it off and just got to wondering how long it would take for him to get kicked out. Kid's there too, along with his pistol twins, Tsubaki, and finally, Maka and I. She lets out a little sigh of relief and I have to roll my eyes. 'She's more devoted to school than anyone else I know! She could have probobly just walked into the class up front and not had anything to worry about. We might get a lot of things done a lot faster if she would just stop rushing around at the teachers' every whim and would just be cool.' Plus after that, as if I didn't have enough to be iritated about with this class, we had to get to it, quite a treck considering it was held in the frickin tunnels bellow the school! 'I understand you need a classroom, and the acadamy is pretty much designed perfectly so there aren't really any "unsightly" spare rooms in it's main parts, but have you tried to navigate that place!? I got lost in there once with Maka when we volunteered to retreave some supplies for one of our teachers out of a storage room and it took us almost an hour to find our way out, and even that was nothing compaired to how long it took us to find the damn room in the first place!' So I was less than thrilled to be once again following my frustratingly happy miester down into the dingy tunnels. My nose wrinkled immediately at the musty smell but I vowed to keep my cool in spite of it. "This place really is a dungeon..." I grumbled, completely ignored by Maka as she kept up her brisk pace ahead of me, a slight bounce in her step. 'Sometimes, hanging out with her is exhausting.'

The classroom was shoved in some dingy little cell of a place a good five minutes wander from the staircase to the tunnels. It smelled only slightly less cruddy than the rest of the place but a step inside revealed that visually it was a lot cleaner. Six metal tables, the kind that looked like something they had borrowed from Stien, were set up neatly with chairs and a small stack of hefty-looking textbooks at each spot. Black Star and Tsubaki were no where to be seen but I knew they would be here in a few minutes. Just after class started, as usuol. For now, the seats were occupied by several other miester weapon pairs, some I recognized, some I'd never bothered to speak a word to. Kid and the pistol twins sat at a seventh, separate table in the back of the room and I shot them and skeptical look. Patty waved happily, oblivious to my judgement and Liz just rested her forehead on her palm with an exasperated groan. This kind of segregation had never been practiced by the entitled meister before and judging by his weapons reactions there was clearly a story. 'I should ask later.' Other than that it was Ox who stood out the most, sitting proudly in the front with his chest puffed out like a captain at the helm of his ship, self appointed top of the class that hadn't even started yet. I groaned, barely audible, as Maka and I slid quietly into the seats at the other front row table across the isle from him. He flashed his glasses at Maka with a slight smirk, not hardly as intimidating as mine. "Glad to see you made it in. I was worried I'd have to go a class without the entertainment of you struggling to keep up with me." He chuckled, I just groaned inwardly. He tried so hard to be cool, but it just didn't work for him. Maka snorted indignantly and focused on the front of the classroom, finally drawing my own eyes there. Kaila was gone, but Cinder was sitting on a tall stool beside what I presumed to be her desk scribbling something feverishly in a thick sketchpad on her lap. She looked up from time to time to quickly glance at each of the students before going back to her work. When she finally reached Maka and I she perked up slightly and offered a small wave, witch I returned with a quick, upward nod of acmoligment. Maka stared at her intently, so much so that I had half a mind to tap her on the shoulder and see if everything was alright. She had on her "hunting" face, which was really unusuol, most of the time, as the name implied, it was reserved for hunting pre-Kishin when we were out on missions. She just seemed to scrunch up her eyebrows and look a bit more intense than usuol, focusing undauntedly on a singular objective. I also sometimes called it her "nerd" face, because it also had a tendency to show up in class when she was really into a lesson or when she was reading a book she really liked.

Luckily, Kaila arived just in time to break off her intense focus before she fell forward off the front of our table, an embarassed-looking couple of students following behind her. She greeted the class with a smile as she took up a place at her desk and the others took their seats, her sister shifted uncomfortably at the sight of her, pulling deeper into her hoodie like a turtle. 'Wonder what's got her so nervous...'

"Sorry I'm late, I was just making sure no one got lost on the way here. These tunnels aren't necessarily welcoming to students." Her eyes wondered over the two she had lead back and they sank in their seats to escape her warmly condescending gaze. "Now, why don't we just get started then! Lets begin with-" And as if on some secret cue, she was interrupted by the thundering slam of a the heavy metal door as it flew across her vision. It hit the wall opposite and crashed to the floor, its short lived booming proceeded by that of a very obnoxious, and very familiar lagh. "Your future god has arived!"

I smacked my palm against my forehead and tried to make it look like I didn't know him as we all whatched in mundane frustration as my idiot of a best friend and his thuroughly humiliated partner made their enterence. Kaila stood in shocked silence and Cinder was glancing back and forth between the two parties, trapped between her own surprise and suppressing her laughter. Maka looked like she was about to Maka-chop him into a bloody pulp and slowly but surely Kaila was begining to look like she possessed similar intentions. "She's gonna kill you!" I heard a harsh wisper, which I soon traced to the furious teacher's sister, who had given up on surprise and was just pressing a hand to her mouth to trap giggles now. However, not one of these reactions registered anywhere on the numb-skull's radar, and he just marched confidently up to the front table beside us and unceremoniously shoved Ox and his partner out of they seats. Their protests too fell on deaf ears and Tsubaki was left to try and substitute hushed, meek apologies as she took the seat beside her meister. Kaila took a deep breath and let it out slowly, gripping the edge of her desk until her knuckles turned white. Then, like someone switching between personalities, she pasted on a smile and straightened again. "Well, I'm not even going to adress that other than Black Star, you're late. Now if that's all said and done let's get to the actuol class shall we?" Her voice was strained, rage dripping from every word despite her perky attitude. 'That's Black Star for you, I give it a week before he breaks her.'

"So, how many of you are familiar with my work?" Maka and Ox's hands shot up emediately and I had to roll my eyes again. 'How is it that these two aren't actuolly best friends?' Tsubaki's hand rose tentatively along with a few others, and Kaila's smile became more sincere, despite Black Star and I's hands staying limply where they were. "Good, and those of you who aren't, it can be found in those books on your tables." I looked over, expecting Maka to be hoarding the books like they were her key to life but to my surprise she was doing just the opposite. She was actuolly pushing them over in front of with a tiny smile. I was speechless but managed to sputter out my surprise. "R-really!? You don't want them?" Maka shrugged and pulled her backpack around from the back of her chair. "Yeah. I have my own!" She said perkily, pulling out an almost identical set of books and making a neat pile on the table in front of her. My palm made contact with my forehead in a second and I laghed softly to myself. 'There it is! Obve coarse she has all of them, and more!'

"Geez you're such a nerd..." I chuckled, earning me an irritated look that I knew would ordinarily be accompanied by a Maka Chop if we weren't in a class where she was trying to impress the teacher. 'Note to self: Exploit this to the best of my abilities.' I shoved my stack off to the side and leaned back in my chair, silently showing my meister that I had no intention of reading them, and causing her look to darken dangerously. If it weren't for Kaila, I would be so dead.

"Reading all of that would take forever so let me just sum up the gyst for now. You can get the res on up up time. I study pe-kishins and souls. Specifically, I study the transition from human to kishin, and, most importantly, the possibility of reformation." Kaila's words were emediately met with a slew of wierd looks from her students, myself included. Once a persona strayed from the human path they were gone, past the point of redemption and destined to be eventuolly eaten by a weapon of DWMA. There was no "reformation". At least thats what we'd always been told. You never saw a meister and weapon pair trying to talk someone down from being a kishin. It just didn't happen. Maka was practically leaning over the table, her eyes glued to the incredulous woman, begging for more information. 'I guess this wasn't in any of her books.' Kaila appraised the various faces silently before continuing. "A lot of you are looking at me like I'm crazy, but trust me when I say I know that there's hope. I know from experience." She looked expectantly back at Cinder and the whole class fell deadly silent. No one was even breathing. It took me a couple seconds to catch on and soon I was even cought up in the suspense. 'She doesn't mean- she's not- ' Cinder shifted uncomfortably under her sister's gaze, pulling even farther into her hoodie and clutching her tablet and pensil to her chest. "Please no..." She squeaked, but Kaila just smiled warmly. "Come on. Its too late now, half of them already figured it out." Reluctantly, the mysterious girl scooted off of her stool, clearly trying to go as slowly as possible to prolong the time until whatever it was her sister wanted her to do. She set her stuff down on the desk equally painstakingly and walked up the stand beside her in front if us, not meeting anyone's gaze. Then, with a swift sweep of her hood and a mighty ruffle of her hoodie, the whole class went rigid.

Wolf-like ears flattened against her head like a scared dog. Feathered wings fanned slightly on eather side of her, bright snowy white underside turned to face us like giant beacons in the otherwise gloomily colored room, doing more to attract the attention that she CLEARLY did not want. She adjusted the bottom of her hoodie so that it wasn't hanging over her butt anymore and a speckled brown tail that looked like it was bristling with both fur and feathers was revealed, drooping down to just bellow her knee and hooking like it wanted to tuck up between her legs.

Every fiber of my being and experience told me to turn into a weapon and slice this thing to bits, memories of the past day and morning the only thing keeping me from acting on it. Not that it would probobly matter because Maka probobly wouldn't have been able to wield me. She looked like someone had just flipped an off switch in her brain and she was left to sit as is. Her mouth was slightly open and her eyes were as big as my fist. Nothing on her moved and she just stared at the sight in front of her.

Cinder pushed her hands out of her sleeves revealing yet more ruffled, light brown fur and wicked-looking talons and clasped them nervously in front of her as she kicked off her boots. Her feet were similarly furred and clawed, and made little scratches in the floor absentmindedly as she wiggled her toes. "These REALLY do not work with shoes..." she chuckled, her voice a shaky wisper. Her attempt to break the tension fell devastatingly flat, even Black Star didn't have anything to say, and his rare dumbfounded silence just added to the eerie atmosphere.

Finally, the clearing of a throat broke the silence and all eyes shifted to Kaila, simultaneously wondering why the hell she had brought this thing in here. "All of the breakthroughs I've made in kishin study can be attributed to my sister. If it weren't for my first hand experiences, I wouldn't know any more than you do, probobly less, and I also wouldn't be convinced that its possible to save a soul even when it's fallen off the human path." She spoke confidently, an arm draped over Cinder's shoulders. "So that's what it is..." Maka murmered beside me. She had snapped well out of her shock and apeared to be back to her normal self, her eyes staring inquisitivly at the pair. The younger girl had a weak smile, and was begining to make eye contact around the room again. She hesitated on the faces of those of us she spoke to yesterday, her eyes straining with the slightest bit of sorrow and desperation. "Are you gonna tell them the story?" Kaila asked, making her jump. "I ain't tellin' it." She chuckled. Cinder sighed, and let the wind out slowly between her teeth, whitch I now noticed contained several long pointed canines that I hadn't been aware of before. "Can I please just go back to my stool now...?" She wispered again, turning the desperate gaze on her older sibling. "No!" Kaila barked, the sudden volume of her voice making several of us jump. "Drag it over to a table and join the class!" Now it was Cinder's turn to look stunned. "But, but, you didn't say-" She stammered, only to be quickly cut off. "No buts. You wont tell the story so go be social!" And with a friendly shove from Kaila, she reluctantly slunk back and grabbed her stool and drawing tablet and turned to face the class like a condemned inmate looking at the gallows. A lot of people looked away as she walks forward, scanning th tables for an empty seat. "U-ummm..." she mumbled nervously as she sht she some hopeful, pleading looks. Finally she just seemed to give up and rapidly pulled her stool up next to Maka on the side of our table. I instantly stiffened, and Maka mirrored it, trying to keep from drilling into the intruder with my blood-colored eyes. She set her tablet as close to the edge of the tables as possible and shrank back a bit, trying to not take up room. "Sorry..." she whispered and flipped to a blank page to begin sketching furiously to avoid our eyes. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, keeping one eye trained on her at all times throughout the rest of the class. Almost oblivious to the teacher's later rantings as I stared lazars at the top of her head. She didn't say anything or look at anyone for the rest either, even pulling her hoodie back up to conceal her ears and face.

When class let out, everyone was in a rush to get out and I barely looked over my shoulder at the half-kishin as we left. Unfortunately, Maka lingered, staring back at her until I pulled her out with me. "I wonder..." She murmered, I just rolled my eyes for thw third time in the past hour and kept walking. 'What the hell's going on?'


	3. Blending In

The next few days were... awkward to say the least. I suppose perfectly in sink with the bizarre new character who caused it. Even though Kaila explained to us that much of her hand picking was pretty much based solely on wether or not she felt she could trust us to know the truth about her sister, it didn't even take until the end of the day for the entire acadamy to have heard the news. A half-kishin dwelling right in the building under our noses was not exactly something people kept quiet about, and naturally there was an army of spectators lining the pavement to the door bright and early the next morning for a look at her. Soul and I just so happened to arive at the same time the infamous duo did so we too were privy to the specticle. I admit it was almost frightening. A lot of people who didn't make it into Kaila's special class still showed up early, and several meisters had their partners at the ready as they whatched the two pass. They kept to the shadows of the crowd but the looks in some of their eyes made me worry about wether or not they'd stay there for long. Kaila seemed to be ignoring them or even flat out smirking at them fearlessly as she strutted past, not appearing to be at all bothered by the judgmental looks or silent threats, as usuol a stark contrast to the ridacule's main target, who looked like she was about to crawl out of her own skin. She pulled the fabric of the hoodie down even farther over her features to where you could barely even see her eyes, but it was to no avail when the onlookers already knew what she was trying to conceal. The whole crowd was silent until they disapeared through the doors when it abruptly erupted into jumbled noise. The harsh murmered were almost deafening and we followed from a distance, traveling through the mob of people to avoid atracting too much attention to ourselves.

"Yo! Maka, Soul!"

With little success.

I turned around to face the voice and appraise its owner, finding an only vaguely familiar face. It was one of the first years I'd seen walking around before but never bothered to talk to. He was a short, scrawny, freckle-faced kid with choppy brown and blonde hair and with the way he shook slightly in his stance I couldn't help but let an over-hyped chihuahua come to mind. He was holding a slightly curved simitar that looked utterly out of place in his hands but considering whoever it was decided to remain silent I assume they didn't have any complaints. His child-like face was serious, also out of place looking but I didn't really feel like chuckling at it. "You're in that quack's special class right? Be careful in there, a'right." I found myself hit with a little pang of offence for the esteemed young scientist and would have probobly hit the kid if it weren't for Soul, who gave a quick nod and careless "yeah..." before pulling me away with a firm hand on my wrist.

I was tempted to try and catch up to Kaila and apologize for my classmates and see if she was okay, but Soul held me back. He didn't trust them, and some instinctive part of me didn't either, that was the only thing holding me back from ignoring him and plowing forward. We'd talked and laughed with them all lunch period the day before yesterday and they seemed perfectly nice, but that could have easily been an act.

In the time I took drowning in my own thoughts, Soul had dragged me a safe distance behind the sisters all the way to their class. I reclaimed my seat at the front of the room and adjusted my mini-skirt slightly so that it would sit right, allowing my eyes to follow the two more interesting things in the room. Kaila organized a few papers at her desk while occassioanlly pausing to take bites of an orange she had brought with her, flashing me an unintimidating smile when she caught my gaze. I returned the gesture politely before quickly looking away to whatch the even more mundane activity of Cinder just standing beside her stool at the front of the room with her sketch-book clutched under one arm. She was whatching the students uneasily just like yesterday, though today I knew why, and had her hoodie covering every odd part of her accept her feet and tail. Her oversized boots sat neglected in the corner and I wondered if Kaila was the one who made her take them off. I could tell that it obviously wasn't voluntary as she keapt shooting desperate glances off at them as if they may start to walk on their own and come back to cover her abnormal furry talons.

As classes went on, it became clear that her perpose in the class was primarily as a teaching tool rather than an assistant. She sat in her tentative seat beside Soul and I for most of the lecture portions and doodled in her notebook silently but occassionally her sister would call her up to the front to display some aspect of what she had been talking about. Every time the little half-kishin would slink up, looking highly unnerved but took whatever awkward treatment her sister wished to give her in submissive silence. It was almost funny, like seeing a zookeeper play with a tamed tiger like it was a puppy.

It got weirder though, as I walked into lunch later to find the tiger sitting our cafatiria.

Everyone was quiet, or talking in hushed, hiss-like whispers, shooting glances back towards an uncomfortably familiar table in the corner. It was the table we had moved to temporarily a few days ago to talk and have lunch with the new visiters, who's real identities had been completely unknown to us then. This day though, it only had one visiter, who's unmistakable wavelength and furry tail that swished bellow the bench gave her away in an instant.

She was eating in silence, obviously aware of all the attention she was getting regardless, and trying really hard to look like she didn't notice everyone else. I almost wanted to go sit and talk with her again but the exuberant calls from my friends at the usuol table were plenty to pull me away. Everyone was present today, including Kid and the pistol sisters, who also seemed like they were struggling to ignor the half-kishin eating in docile silence just across the room. Black Star couldn't seem to care less, which I'm not sure surprised me or not. 'Sure he's a total moron but he's got to be serious SOMETIMES!' He didn't apear to have any interest in proving me right though as he carried on his usuol boasting and face-stuffing like everything was normal. I could tell Tsubaki at least was concerned, for once struggling to hang on every word of her obnoxious meister and sending jittery glances around the crowd. Soul and I slid onto the bench with our backs to the oddity and tried for the first time to actuolly invest ourselves into Black Star's ranting, and eventuolly allow the table to slip into awkward normality. Soul asked about Kid's odd seating choice in class and he matter-of-factly explained how there were an odd number of tables and he had to sit centered in the back to make it symmetrical, much to his weapons' chagrin. Black Star didn't hesitant to fill every silence we fell into so we all managed make it through lunch without to much of a struggle.

Days went on like this, eventuolly bleeding ceaselessly into the next week and I started to worry that this rigid new development in the atmosphere might become a permanent fixture. Good thing Kaila had no qualms with taking a sledgehammer to the ice.

**Awkward events equals awkward writing aparently. Sorry guys. Next chapters all done at once so its much more wwell-structured and guess what!?I see something coming up over the horizon! Wholly shit, it's the plot! Maybe something Wil actuolly happen!**


	4. Getting Ripped From the Shell

'These chairs are really uncomfortable.' Only one of a plethora of complaints that ran through my mind on a daily basis as I sat through our tedious new class. Maka was working diligently next to be like the nerd she was, her nose hovering mere inches above her paper as she wrote, having long since gotten fed up with listening to me voice said complaints. Usuolly I'm a pretty cool guy when it comes to this sort of thing but a combination of crippling boredom, and people I dont like, tends to bring out the whiner in me. On her other side sat the infamous winged wonder, scratching something out in her sketchbook like she didn't have a thing to worry about. I'd noticed that lately. In the seemingly endless minutes we spent sitting around in this dungeon I'd spent a lot of time whatching her. I'm not some creeper, thats completely uncool, but I didn't trust her in the slightest and to be honest that made her the most interesting thing in that damn class. So far I'd decided that she was a spineless wreck that, if we were asigned to collect, would be a total breeze to take down. However, for whatever reason, when she was drawing in that book, she actuolly kind of acted normal. I assume its just because then she doesn't have to look at or talk to anyone else. Her sister didn't really seem to have sympathy for that though.

"Cinder! It's been almost a week, put the drawings down and talk to someone!" Kaila slammed her hands down on our table, using one to catch her little sibling's book and rip it from her hands. 'If I did that to one of Maka's books, she'd put it through my skull.' The furball was stunned, looking up at her with shock and confusion scribbled all throughout her dark brown eyes. "I- uh- what do you want me to say!?" She stuttered, her voice cracking a bit in her sudden panic. Kaila's eyes were locked on her, wild yet determined as she gave a small, speedy shake of her head. "Nothing, just, talk to someone! Come on you little shrub! Talk to Soul and Maka, you know them! I sat you here for a reason!" Cinder looked down and messed with the corner of her picture, taking a deep breath. "Do you have any idea how much you sound like mom?" She chuckled, cracking a skittish smile. Her sister shrugged with a slightly pouted lip as she straightened, looking down now like she was whatching a disobedient cat. "Just goes to show that I'm not the only one who thinks you should quit being so antisocial." And with that she flashed a smugly forced grin and sauntered back to her desk, flopping down in the swiveling chair and pulling out her phone to do Death knows what. That was another thing I'd noticed down here in my stasis. The more time went by with her as our professor, the less she seemed to act like one. She was only in her early twenties after all, so I guess it was normal. Cinder straightened up, following her sister with a desperite, pleading gaze. She opened her mouth presumably to object but closed it with a scared but defeated whimper as she turned back to face us, her features turning from panicked to apologetic, as was often the case when our eyes met. "Ah... um... hi." She stammered, pulling a bit further into her hoodie at the final word as her face strained to keep up a forced friendly smile. I was silent, mt spine rigid as I listened to and watched the girl stumble over her words. 'This was a half-kishin, I was not talking to a-'

"Hi."

My eyes locked onto my meister, practically bulging out of their sockets as I tried to wrap my head around what she was doing. "Maka..." I keapt my voice low, a cautionary, hiss-like wisper, but she ignored it, pressing forward despite me. "Sorry about this, you heard the chick, but if you don't want to talk thats totally fine." Cinder's answer was rushed and jumbled, and squeaked out just above a wisper. "It's fine, she is the teacher." Maka's response seemed to calm the freak's nerves slightly and she offered a more genuine comfortable smile. "So, um, how've you guys been since last time we talked? Is everybody okay?" She asked after a pause, clearly grasping at straws now for conversation. I kept my mouth shut, figuring I'd just watch things unfold at this point. I whatched Maka bite her lower lip thoughtfully, likely trying to think of a gentle way to say 'yeah, pretty good, we've just been avoiding you.' I let my eyes wonder a bit beyond our uncomfortable little trio and found my gaze locked with Black Star's, his greenish eyes holding the same curious, but vaguely dumb, blank look they often did when something besides himself actuolly managed to pop up on his radar. I tried to shoot him an SOS with my thoughts, hoping my eyes could get the message across and into his thick skull for once. 'Come on man! Help me out here!' There was a moment of brilliance as his face formed a more focused frown and his eyebrows furrowed a bit, letting me think for a precious second that I had gotten through. Only to throw it all in my face as he gave a shrug and turned back towards the front of the room, soon returning to his usuol class nap. I almost smacked my forehead and barely stifled a curse. 'Damnit Black Star! You really are a moron!' I finally turned back to Maka, my last glimmer of hope resting with her. 'For once would you please just listen to me and get rid of this girl?' Again, my silent pleas fell on deaf ears as she finally came up with her answer. "Not too much." So simple yet so dooming.

The rest of the class went on in a very similar manner, provaded with long pauses and awkwardly forced interactions that I refused to be a part of. I sort of regretted being so quiet, bitter and all together not cool at all, but that was pretty heartily outweighed by my distrust of the stuttering intruder. At the end of the lesson, I was practically dragging Maka out behind me like the first day.

She didn't hesitate to give me a thorough scolding throughout our next few classes but with how long we've lived together, it wasn't too hard to tune her out. Unfortunately, it'd all still come to bite me in the butt come lunch time.

I'd pushed the morning's encounter to the back of my mind by then and was perfectly content to sit and relax in my spot with my back to the infamously empty table, having a rather irritating discussion with my blue-haired friend about our first fight with Kid. "Seriously, Black Star, I told you. I don't care if you could bench 300 pounds, you still wouldn't be able to wield me. Our souls just don't work, and now you've got me sounding like Maka!" He just flashed me a stupid smirk and got up, standing with one foot on the table and one on the bench, forcing Tsubaki to rush to move her tray for fear of getting her food stepped on. "Ok I get it! You just can't handle me!" He shouted triumphantly, eliciting an exasperated groan from several members of the group. His lagh bellowed around the cafeteria, turning several heads of some of the newer students and begrudgingly being ignored by those who had grown all too used to it. It was cut blessedly short though as he spotted something just beyond my feild of vision that managed to make his eyes go wide and mouth shut like a trap. I knew that rare, dull, bewildered look anywhere and got a sinking feeling as I remembered the lat time I saw it. The whole table had gone silent now as I was finally the last one to turn and see for myself, catching the swishing movement of a tail out of the corner of my eye long before I'd completed the rotation.

Cinder stood there sheepishly, her talon-tipped thumbs drumming out a nervous rhythm on either side of her lunch tray as she figited in her place. "Hey, um... is it okay if I sit with you guys? You're kind of the only people I know and its gettin real awkward sitting at a table alone." We were all dead still and quiet, like someone hit pause on life. 'Is she seriously asking this?' I imagined my thought was shared table-wide in the stunned stillness as we all stared at the frightened creature before us, only to have my own damn meister prove me wrong yet again. "Sure, go ahead." She said with only slight hesitance, scooting a few inches closer to me to allow her a spot on her other side. I swear I almost had a hernia right then and there as I heard those words and struggled to keep my cool as I watched Cinder situate herself on the bench. I looked around to everyone else to see if they would protest but found them all just as dumbfounded as me, with the exception of Kid who seemed almost eerily calm. The half-kishin offered a hopeful, counterproductively fang-filled grin that was slowly returned one by one by our friends with varying degrees of enthusiasm. I managed a recognitionary nod but kept my mouth clamped in a tight line. "Why're you here anyway? Where's your sister?" Black Star's casuol forwardness came as a surprise to me and my ruby eyes flashed to his face, further perplexed by the honest interest that they found there. Cinder shrugged and poked her food with her fork, letting out a grim chuckle. "Probobly at some cafe having a lovely meal. She says I have to stay and eat lunch here and since I'm gonna be taking regular classes here too in another week or so I figured it'd be good to get used to it." Her reponse raised more eybrows than there already were and mine were definately among them. 'Lord Death was letting a half-kishin enroll at the acadamy? Seriously? Wasn't that like letting a convicted criminal start training as a cop?' She noticed the reactions and continued, elaborating in a tone that said it had been repeated at least a dozen times. "My sister's research has always been about rehabilitating pre-kishin's back into society, part of the reason she came here to teach a class for a semester in the first place was so she could put it into practice. I'm just her guinie pig." Maka nodded comprehensively and the information graduolly sank in with the others. Kid reajusted his siute and looked down at his tray, clearing his throat. 'Did he know about this already? He is the son of Death after all. No wonder he's been so shifty.' Cinder was straightened in her seat now, her hoodie slipping back a bit to allow her fluffy dark brown bangs to peak out at the world as she scanned our faces. "Speaking of witch, how are the classes here anyway? I saw them the day I came in with my sister but is that how they always are?" And such went the most surreal lunch period of my life. Never in a million years would I have guess thay I would sit at a table with a half-kishin and listen to my friends discuss teachers and school-work with her, but still I found us exchanging short goodbyes at the end like it was totally normal.

I thought about the conversation on into the night when I lounged on the couch in Maka and I's apartment as she cleaned some things in the kitchen, interrupted by her voice, softened by the late hours as it drifted out to me. "Cinder seemed a lot more outgoing today huh?" She said, putting a finale plate away in a cabinet before coming to lean in the doorway. I nodded, a conformational hum suficing for a response. "What did you think of her?" I paused, really thinking about it before I answered but ending up saticfied. "She's pretty cool I guess..." Now it was Maka's turn to hum and nod before turning down the hall, sending back a shout from the bathroom. "I'm going to bed, goodnight Soul."

"Goodnight." I yelled back half-assedly, returning my eyes to the blank wall in front of me. 'Once she got started, I guess Cinder was pretty cool. I suppose someone just needed to break the tension.'


End file.
